Gu Cheng was born in Beijing on 24 September 1956.[1] He was the son of a prominent party member and the army poet
Gu Gong.[1] At the age of twelve, his family was sent to rural
Shandong because of the
Cultural Revolution (as means of re-education) where they bred pigs. There, he claimed to have learned poetry directly from nature.
In the late 1970s, Gu became associated with the journal Today (Jintian) which began a movement in poetry known as "
menglong" 朦胧 meaning "hazy", "obscure". He became an international celebrity and travelled around the world accompanied by his wife, Xie Ye. The two settled in Rocky Bay, a small village on
Waiheke Island,
Auckland,
New Zealand in 1987. Gu taught Chinese at the
University of Auckland in the City of
Auckland.
In October 1993, Gu Cheng attacked his wife with an axe before hanging himself.[2][3] She died later on the way to a hospital. The story of his death was widely covered in the
Chinese media.[4]
"A Generation"
The two-line poem titled "A Generation" ("一代人") was perhaps Gu Cheng's most famous contribution to contemporary
Chinese literature. It had been considered an accurate representation of the
younger generation during the Chinese
Cultural Revolution seeking knowledge and future.
(translated by Juan Yuchi)
The darkest night gave me dark-colored eyes
Yet with them I'm seeking light
黑夜给了我黑色的眼睛
我却用它寻找光明
Legacy
Gu Cheng's life was dramatised in the 1998 film The Poet (
Chinese: 顧城別戀;
pinyin: gùchéng bié liàn), which focussed on his recurrent
depression and the murder of his wife.[5]
Sea of Dreams: Selected Writings of Gu Cheng translated and edited by Joseph Allen. (New Directions: 2005)
Selected Poems by Gu Cheng edited by Seán Golden and Chu Chiyu. (Renditions Paperbacks, 1990)
Poemas oscuros: Antología de Gu Cheng, traducido del chino por Javier Martín Ríos; revisión al español de Sun Xintang. (China Intercontinental Press: 2014).